When all other silent film stars were relying on a persona, Gloria Swanson was acting.  Watch Beyond the Rocks (1922) and see her act as a giddy child, a miserable newlywed and a woman of the world, Sure she had a face and knew how to use it, but she also acted with her entire body and posture.  She was robbed of an Academy Award for Sunset Blvd (1950), but it immortalized her as the silent film queen. 

Reviews of Movies Starring Gloria Swanson

Movie	Release Date	Avg Stars
Affairs of Anatol, The	09/11/1921
Beyond the Rocks	05/02/1922
Danger Girl , The	08/25/1916
Don't Change Your Husband	01/26/1919
Father Takes a Wife	10/03/1941
Indiscreet	05/16/1931
Male and Female	11/23/1919
Manhandled	07/22/1924
Queen Kelly	01/01/1929
Sadie Thompson	01/07/1928
Sultan's Wife, The	09/30/1917
Sunset Boulevard	08/04/1950
Teddy at the Throttle	04/01/1917
Trespasser, The	11/11/1929
Why Change Your Wife?	05/21/1920